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Small Island? Cameron Has a Riposte for Russia

LONDON — Stung by a reported slight to Britain by a Russian official at the Group of 20 summit meeting, Prime Minister David Cameron abandoned diplomacy and opted for oratory on Friday, lauding the country’s historic role in the fight against slavery and fascism and its artistic, literary and even sporting heritage.

Mr. Cameron’s paean came after Dmitri S. Peskov, press secretary to the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, reportedly dismissed Britain as a “small island no one pays attention to.” Mr. Peskov later denied making the comment.

While Britain has ruled out taking any military role if there is a strike on Syria, the government has held the Syrian government responsible for a chemical attack on Aug. 21, putting it at odds with Russia, which has blamed Syria’s rebels. The two countries have had strained relations since the poisoning death of a former K.G.B. agent, Alexander V. Litvinenko, in London in 2006.

Mr. Cameron had an awkward two days at the summit meeting in St. Petersburg, largely sidelined in discussions over whether and how to punish Syria for a chemical attack. The British Parliament’s surprise decision last week against a military strike, and Mr. Cameron’s pledge to adhere to its wishes, prompted soul-searching in Britain about its global role and the risk to the country’s “special relationship” with Washington. The British press noted that, at the Group of 20 gathering, President Obama was scheduled to meet President François Hollande of France but was too busy to see Mr. Cameron one on one.

Rather than letting the incident lie after Mr. Peskov’s denial, Mr. Cameron went on the offensive, telling British reporters on Friday that although Britain might be a small island, he “would challenge anyone to find a country with a prouder history, a bigger heart or greater resilience.”

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“Britain is an island that has helped to clear the European continent of fascism and was resolute in doing that throughout the Second World War,” he said, according to the BBC.

Nor was he through.

“Britain is an island that helped to abolish slavery, that has invented most of the things worth inventing, including every sport currently played around the world, that still today is responsible for art, literature and music that delights the entire world,” Mr. Cameron added.

At a later news conference, Mr. Cameron repeated his point, this time adding references to the Beatles, Shakespeare, Edward Elgar and the pop group One Direction, joking that if he talked too long on the subject he “might have to put it to music.”

The reaction at home might not have been what Mr. Cameron had hoped for. The Daily Telegraph Web site drew comparisons not with famous political orators like Winston Churchill but with a scene from the 2003 movie “Love Actually” in which a British prime minister, played by Hugh Grant, stands up to a bullying American president with a speech invoking Shakespeare, Churchill and Harry Potter.

“We may be a small country, but we are a great one, too,” the fictional prime minister concluded.